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Chelsea complete Ivanovic signing

LONDON (AFP) - Chelsea completed the signing of Lokomotiv Moscow defender Branislav Ivanovic for an undisclosed fee on Wednesday.

Ivanovic, 23, had already been granted a work permit after the Premier League club struck a deal with Lokomotiv earlier this week.

The Serbia international's move to Stamford Bridge was rubber-stamped after he passed a medical and put pen to paper on a three and a half year contract.

"It is the dream of every footballer to want to move on and improve yourself - and the ultimate is to play for such a big team as this," Ivanovic told Chelsea's website.

Although Chelsea did not reveal the fee for Ivanovic it has been reported to be around nine million pounds (18 million dollars), taking their spending in the January transfer window to well over 20 million pounds (40 million dollars) after last week's capture of Nicolas Anelka from Bolton.

Ivanovic, who has won nine caps for Serbia, partners Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic in his country's central defence but can also play at right back or in defensive midfield.